Little House
by Ronnie Ravenly
Summary: The story is based on the "Little House" song by The Fray and a YouTube video. Basically, Leslie sees Jesse kissing a girl and changes. It's up to the king of Terabithia to change her back and save the day! But will he manage such a complicate task? On HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: **__This story takes place about four or five years after Bridge to Terabithia, but I've changed the ending so Leslie didn't die. Leslie still fell into the river, but she didn't hit her head, so she merely swam up again._

_This chapter, the prologue, is just two or three years after Bridge to Terabithia though, as they Leslie is fifteen and Jesse is sixteen in chapter one. In this chapter Leslie is thirteen and Jesse is fifteen. Jesse is in this story born earlier in the year than Leslie, which means that he has already had birthday when this story starts, and Leslie haven't. Jesse and Leslie are still best friends, and they have romantic feelings for each other, though the other doesn't know._

_The next chapter will take place two years after this one. This story is replacing "Dreams" as I was not satisfied with how it turned out._

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Bridge to Terabithia or any of it's characters or places._

_**Little House**_

_**Prologue**_

As Leslie walked through the big amount of people dancing she smiled slightly. She thought it was interesting and fascinating to watch people get lost in their dance moves and the music blasting from the stage. She was used to it watch people dance, as the school organized this 'parties' once a month. Leslie herself didn't dance, unless Jesse forced her to.

That was another thing she found fascinating; seeing how much Jesse had changed after they became friends. He was far from as shy as before, and had many other friends. He had become quite popular with the girls, which annoyed most of the boys at first. None of the boys had wanted to be friends with him then, since the girls they were crushing on liked him better.

When he refused to get together with any of them, the boys had finally realized that he wasn't _trying_ to get them fall for him. After that almost all the guys started being okay with him again. He now had five close friends, one of them being Leslie herself. The other ones were Ryan, Jason, Leo and Dakota. Ryan and Jason were brothers, Ryan being one year older than the rest of them, except Leo, who was at the same age.

Jason wasn't really a person Leslie liked, but she tolerated him for Jesse, since he seemed to like Jason very much. Leslie didn't actually see _why_ Jesse liked him though. Ryan was sarcastic and at times a pest at times, but that was nothing like how Jason could act. Jason was absolutely always pessimistic, and pretty rude. Both brothers were naturally tanned, and both had brown eyes. Ryan had dirty-blonde hair like their father had had, before he died, though, where Jason had sepia-brown hair. Ryan's hair was also longer than Jason's and wavy. It was a bit curled too. Jason's on the other hand was short-clipped, barely an inch or two.

Leo had light skin, and royal-blue eyes. His hair was black, and it was almost as long as Ryan's, but Leo's was straight. He was by far the one of them that looked best, or at least nicest, in Leslie's opinion. Unfortunately the other girls didn't agree.

He probably looked too reliable and nice and, as a popular and mean girl had once said, _boring_. Leo had been sad then, but he refused to show it, stating that he didn't care about what she said or thought about his looks. He was the one Leslie was closest to of the boys, except Jesse.

Dakota was a really interesting girl. She was living with her third foster family. You could see that she didn't really come from here, as it was clear in her looks that she came from Spain. She had curly copper hair, which went down her back. Somehow, she managed to keep it without tangles. It was beyond Leslie's comprehension, as she just barely managed to do the same with her straight, blonde hair in shoulder length.

Of course, there was also Ben. Ben had real brown skin, as his grandparents came from India. His mother had lived all her life in England and his father came here when he was twelve, so Ben was just as English as the rest of them were. Leslie, Jesse, Dakota, Ryan and Leo understood that perfectly well. Jason didn't as easily, but he just distanced himself from Ben a bit, even he knew not to bother him about it.

It was a shame not everyone were like them, since Ben had been tainted badly by racism. Ben had become suspicious and cold. He wasn't so bad with them, but he could be very cruel, just because people had been that way to him.

Leslie continued to walk between all the dancing people, and tried not to bump into someone by best ability. Jesse had been the one who had persuaded her to come. He had left her to talk to Leo after about an hour, but Leslie wanted to see what he was up to. He had been gone for half an hour, and Leslie being Leslie, she was curious.

She was pretty sure he wasn't dancing, since then he would have forced her to dance with him. Don't misunderstand, Leslie didn't dislike dancing, and she wasn't antisocial. That wasn't the reason she hadn't wanted to come. Victoria was. She had been clinging to Jesse for weeks now, despite the fact that he showed no sign of interest for her.

She came up to Leslie and Dakota and told them to stay away from him and stuff too. Worst part was that she lied to Leslie. Told Leslie about things Jesse had said to her, which usually had nothing to do with the truth whatsoever.

Jesse didn't believe Leslie and Dakota when they told him how Victoria had warned them to stay away from him though, and Leslie hadn't told him about the other stuff Victoria had been saying. Leo knew about that, as well as Dakota.

Since Leslie was fairly sure that Jesse wasn't on the dance floor, she checked if he was at the eating area. It was actually pretty cool over there, since it was an actual room. The school had installed a TV there a couple of days ago, so the students had a vote of which movie they should watch, and then that movie was put on.

Jesse wasn't there either. There was only one place left to look. Out in the parking lot. Some of the boys, at times girls too, but that was rarely, used to go out there to smoke, or drink alcohol. It was usually older boys who did that, but at times someone from Leslie's grade went to. Jason had gone a couple of times.

Leslie didn't crave or long for going there, but she had to know if Jesse was there. So, she went on. When she walked out the door, it was a big difference from being inside. It was still just the end of February, so it was dark outside. Inside there had been flashing lights from the disco ball. Disco ball, cheesy right? It had been there since Jesse's parents had gone to the school. So they said, at least.

Leslie looked around; she didn't want to go anywhere if she didn't have to. The boys tended to change their attitude to the worse when they had been drinking alcohol. She didn't have to look for long though.

Seeing the only kissing couple outside wasn't too hard. The fact that it was Jesse and Victoria was a bit worse to proceed for Leslie though. Leslie closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. She was only sucking up air, but it still helped. A bit.

Some seconds later she opened her eyes again. This time she only stared at the couple for a while. She had to make sure everything was the way it looked like, so she didn't let her imagination get the best of her again. Jesse didn't try to push Victoria away, and he looked rather comfortable than anything else. It stung, but Leslie still had to be certain.

When she had stood there long enough to know that Jesse had actually nothing against kissing Victoria, despite what he had told Leslie and Dakota earlier, she walked back inside.

Leo had been in the hallway to catch his breath after dancing so much with Dakota. He had only seen Leslie for a second as she got her coat. But he had still seen it. He didn't know what 'it' was. But something in Leslie had changed. Something in her eyes. They almost looked… _lifeless_.

_**A/N:**__ This history is based purely on the first part of the YouTube-video "Something you want to forget about… (Jesse/Leslie) AU" by __cassiehvdwt__._


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: **__Another chapter! _

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Bridge to Terabithia or any of it's characters or places._

_**Little House**_

_**Chapter 1**_

_***************..***************_

_Set Two Years Later_

As the burning sun went down behind the horizon a big amount of fireworks went off. All the teenagers gathered on the beach filled with young adults cheered. Some of the people were on surfboards in the water, but most were dry on the sand. The fireworks symbolized the same thing that the teenagers were cheering at; that summer vacation just started. The water that had prior been black entirely was now mirroring the lights in the sky above itself. The water had never gotten a chance to become completely still, as the surfers had never left the water except for short trips for eating and using the toilette.

If you now looked very well, you would see a person with something that could be dark brown hair making his way forward in the crowd. He looked like he was going to an adventure, as his walk was fast and excited. But it was summer, which was an adventure in itself. In reality the boy had black hair, and was merely going to meet up with his best friend.

The girl he had described as his best friend was currently sitting on an old, fallen three. Her hair was long and blonde. If you were as close to her as the boy would soon be, you would see that her eyes were sea-green. She looked like she was staring at something in the distance that no one else could see. Her face was expressionless. As the black-haired boy came in her sight, she smiled at him in greeting.

"Hey. How are ya?" Leo asked his female friend. "Fine. How are you?" Leslie smiled. Leo smiled back at her, before he turned around to watch the fireworks. Leslie's smile grew. As it grew, it also became a bit _knowing_, in a way. Like she knew something the boy standing with his back to her didn't know. "So, seen Dakota yet?" Leo turned around hastily. "No. Sh- ehh- Should I have?" Leslie's smile now turned into a full smirk. "Maybe you should go look for her?" Leo looked baffled for a second, before nodding. He was used to her natural and slightly strange behavior. He then strode off.

He didn't know how many hours Leslie and Dakota had spent in front of the mirror to make Dakota look like she did. Her copper hair was in a high ponytail, her skin was basically glowing, she was wearing a new, beautiful (and expensive) dress and her make up was made to look natural but pretty. Leo would find her absolutely stunning.

Leslie looked around for Ben. The two of them had grown considerably closer after the gang split up. Jason and Ryan were friends with Jesse, while Dakota, Leo and Ben decided to stick with Leslie. Victoria was also a… close friend off Jesse. The funny thing was that Jesse and Leslie's parents were still friends (nether Jesse or Leslie had told them what happened), so one of the families occasionally came over to the other for dinner and stuff. So even after everything that happened, Leslie still had to see Jesse.

*************..************

Jesse had tried to talk to her about the kiss with Vicki (that was Victoria's nickname), but Leslie constantly blew him off. She refused to listen to him. She really didn't want to know what happened. She simply refused to listen to him at all if he as much as mentioned Vicki's name. If Jesse hadn't known better he would have been angry with her. But Jesse _did_ know better. He had seen how she had changed. He had noticed how different she acted. She had changed her appearance. Her hair was long now, and she wore clothes that looked more _normal_. She wore clothes in crazy colors still (mostly neon), but she didn't wear so many layers as before, and she rarely ever wore something on her head anymore.

She had gotten skinnier too (something Jesse was less than pleased with as she had been thin in the first place), and wore a bit of make up. Nothing huge, like the other girls around (especially Vicki), only some mascara. But still, it was something he thought he'd never see.

But what Jesse noticed the most was her smile. It had disappeared along with their friendship. She still smiled, of course. Just not the same way she used to. Her smiles used to bring him to Terabithia, merely because that was what her smile reminded him off. Her smile held so much anticipation and it was mysterious, in a safe and exciting and liberating way. Just like Terabithia.

Jesse still thought she was beautiful though, even without the… _Leslie-ness_ she used to have. Jesse didn't really like Vicki anymore. He had never had romantic feelings for her, unlike what everybody thought. And they were certainly _not_ dating. Don't get him wrong, Vicki was _pretty_ (or _hot_ as many of the other guys said), she was just kinda mean to. Actually she was an evil little witch (not that he would say that to anyone, Vicki would have cut off his toes, one by one, and forced him to eat them).

Jesse sighed. There wasn't really anything he could do with that. Leslie hated him, and he knew it was all his fault. His thoughts automatically darkened when thinking of the girl. Thoughts of her (memories especially) always made him this way. He always felt the need to tell Leslie what really happened, to make it all okay. But he couldn't make it all okay. He knew she had changed. And he was the only one to blame.

She had changed his world, changed him from a boy who had so low self esteem he believed no one would want to be friends with him, to a person who had plenty of friends. But to become this person, he had to lose the one person in this world who had believed in him even before anyone else did. His best friend. Leslie.

Jesse sighed. He used to think of Leslie all the time before, but he thought about her considerably less now. He still had days when he refused to get out of the house in fear of seeing her with someone though. He didn't know who that 'someone' would be, or why he was afraid of seeing her with someone he didn't even know who was. But he was afraid. And he couldn't tell any of his friends. He would've been able to tell Leslie if they were friends. But they weren't.

He had told Ryan that he missed Leslie at times, but nothing else. And Dakota came by now and then, but not too often. After all, she was interested in Leo, who was loyal to Leslie. This was one of those days. One of those days when he simply had to stay inside. He spent these days memorizing all his memories of Leslie. At times he did leave the house, but then he went to Terabithia. Times like that were the only times he even went to Terabithia. Otherwise he kept away, in case Leslie wanted to be there. She wouldn't have wanted him there then.

Jesse sighed yet again. This was a 'home-day' as he had come to call it. At times he wondered if Leslie missed him. He was still uncertain about it. The fact that she was avoiding him and the fact that it was because he kissed a girl was confusing, as one thing implied that she didn't miss him (the avoiding part), and one thing implied that she at least cared about him (the reason of the avoiding).

After shaking his head to shake that certain question out of his head (he knew he'd never figure it out anyway; as he had spent the two years apart from Leslie trying to do that exact thing with no luck), he got up and went out the door. He was leaving this world. He was going to Terabithia.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: **__Chapter Three. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Bridge to Terabithia or any of it's characters or places._

_**Little House**_

_**Chapter 2**_

_***************..***************_

_A Couple Of Days Later_

Jesse had been awake for quite a while doing his chores (who had been reduced remarkably when his father got the job closer to town, and they moved closer to the town), when Vicki rang his doorbell. Once he opened the door he regretted that he had, and he tried to make up an excuse to _not_ going with her to the beach. Since he was such a bad liar, he failed, and Vicki dragged him to the beach despite his poor attempts at making her leave.

Normally he would have liked (or, maybe not _liked, _but he wouldn't have disliked it either) her company, but today he was almost grossed out by seeing her short skirt. The fact that she didn't even wear a shirt also made Jesse slightly uncomfortable.

It wasn't that she wasn't pretty or anything; it was just the fact that Jesse didn't even like her _like that_ that made the situation slightly awkward. It was especially bad since Vicki had a tendency to bend forward quite a _lot_. The action exposed more of her chest than Jesse felt okay with seeing. It didn't seem to bother Vicki in the slightest though.

After Jesse moved he could actually _walk_ to the beach, which was a big advantage in the moving. It was a relief to, as Jesse didn't have a car. Well, technically did he have a car, just not a driver's license. It wasn't his fault though. You see, Jason and some of his friends had been doing some vandalism in a couple of houses, and some of the owners had seen some of them. One of these particular owners just happened to be Jesse's driving instructor. So when Jason had come with Jesse to wish him good luck on the test, Jesse's driving instructor, whose name was Robert Williams, recognized Jason. Mr. Williams had then assumed that Jesse had been in on the vandalism, and refused to give Jesse a license.

Of course, Jesse could have complained, but then his parents would be informed, and he would have to explain that he knew of Jason's actions, which would only get him in trouble. So, Jesse didn't complain.

Just about then Jesse and Vicki had reached the beach. "Are you okay?" Vicki had grown a bit concerned about him, as he hadn't spoken a word the whole walk to the beach. Jesse merely nodded, which Vicki instantly approved of. Had it been Leslie, Jesse realized, she would have known that something was up when he just nodded. She would of asked him what was wrong, and kept pushing until he told her. Then she would have made him feel better.

Jesse realized that he shouldn't be thinking of Leslie like that, as she was the reason that he was miserable. Just as Vicki started pulling him towards the cafe shop, Jesse literally walked into Leo.

"Oh, hi Jesse." Leo greeted him. "Hello. What're you doing here?" Jesse knew he was fishing after information on Leslie, he just hoped he hid it well enough to go unnoticed. Judging from Leo's reply, he hadn't. "I drove Leslie here. She's out surfing." After a second, Leo added "Dakota's going to come, so I'll hang with her." Vicki looked rather bored with talking to Leo, and tried to pull Jesse with her to the café once again, Jesse glared at her. She just rolled her eyes at him, and walked over to the café alone.

"Pleasant companion of yours." Leo spoke in a voice that was obviously mimicked a well-know teacher at their school. The comment had been spoken when the teacher had seen a girl coming late to school in a car driven by a boy at least five years older that her, who was smoking and had empty beer bottles floating around in his car. Jesse laughed. Leo didn't know how right he was.

"So, you're meeting up with Dakota?" Leo simply nodded. Jesse could tell by his former friend's body-language that Leo felt uncomfortable talking to him. Dakota didn't have any problem talking to Jesse, but it was obvious for everyone that she was closer to Leslie. And since Leo was even closer to Leslie it was only natural that he felt weirder about talking to Leslie than Dakota did. Jesse still wished they could be friends though.

Jesse wanted to tell him what had happened between him and Vicki that night, but he was fairly sure that Leo wouldn't want to hear it. He hadn't tried to tell Leo about it though. "Listen, Leo, I-" Just as the words fell into place in his mind, two girls disturbed him. As Leslie was the one to reach them first, and Vicki showed some seconds after her, Jesse assumed that Vicki had seen Leslie walk over to them, and gotten paranoid about it. That would explain the way Vicki was annoyingly clinging to him.

Leo turned to look at his blonde friend. "What are you doing here already? Usually you're out at least three hours at once." Leo checked his watch. "Not forty lousy minutes." Leslie was soaked (obviously, since she had been surfing), and dragged her hands trough her hair a couple of times, probably so it would dry faster.

"Some jerk called me hot." Leo raised his eyebrows at her. "So you left?" Leslie shook her head. "No, afterwards he tried to grab my butt, even as I was protesting. _Then_ I left." Leo nodded. His eyes had become faintly darker of anger, and his face was masked with frustration. "That's just male's way to show affection. You should have flirted with him. You should have _at least_ stayed. Now he'll think that you don't like him." Vicki argued.

Jesse almost rubbed his temples in frustration, but was fortunately able to stand still. Leslie just stared at her in disbelief. Leo blinked a couple of times. "It _amuses _me how you can take a situation like that, and turn it into something as innocent as '_male affection_'. And for the record; I _don't_ like him." With that Leslie walked away, shaking her head at Vicki's opinion on the event.

Jesse sighed. Vicki looked up at him. "Is everything alright? Did she bother you?" Jesse almost shouted in surprise. Leslie _bother _him? What was _wrong_ with this girl? "Maybe you should go back to the café?" He smiled a forced smile at her, and she 'huffed' and walked off.

Jesse shook his head, and rolled his eyes. Once Vicki was out of earshot he turned to Leo. "I'm sorry. I swear, sometimes I don't get what's her problem." Leo actually chuckled a bit. "Yes she does seem a bit… possessive." Leo smiled a bit, then his expression got serious again. "I don't get why you keep hanging with her then though." Jesse sobered up too. He looked Leo straight in the eyes, before replying.

He knew what he was about to say probably wouldn't get trough to Leslie, but he still had to tell Leo that truth. It would be better if just one of Leslie's friends knew the truth about why Jesse still hung out with Vicki.

"She frankly won't let me get away from her. _I _haven't called _her_ one single time this year, or gone to visit her. She calls me. She shows up at my place. Even if I tell her I don't want to be her friend anymore in a gentle way, she acts like nothing the next day. I can't escape her." Leo stared him in the eyes, trying to tell whether he was lying or not.

He seemed to accept Jesse's words as the truth in the end though, as he nodded. "I'll tell Leslie." He seemed to be concerned about Leslie, probably afraid that Jesse would hurt her. Again.

"Leo, I didn't tell you this so you could tell Leslie." When Leo gave him a disbelieving look, Jesse added "Of course I hoped that you would, but I told you this because I wanted _you_ to know too." Leo nodded, and the former disbelief in his eyes was replaced with something that could look like the love a friend has for another. Jesse smiled at him, and for the first time in years, Leo really smiled back.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: **__Chapter Four. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Bridge to Terabithia or any of it's characters or places._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Little House<strong>_

_**Chapter 3**_

_Just a while later_

_With Leo and Leslie_

"So, how were the waves?" Leslie noticed how Leo talked faster than normal. She assumed that he was nervous about something. "They were great. What's up?" Her eyebrows rose slightly. Leo sighed. He knew he had to tell her. "Well, you know when I was talking to Jesse earlier?" Leslie almost groaned in frustration. She didn't want to talk about Jesse. She didn't want to _think_ of Jesse.

Leo stared at her. "Yeah. I know." Her voice had a hint of annoyance, but she quickly straightened herself up. "What about it?" Her voice got more cheerful. "Well, he kinda said that he didn't want to hang with her. Not really. She keeps pushing on him, or so he says at least." Leslie kept silent for a couple of minutes. Neither of them needed to say who _she_ was for the other to understand. "She probably is." Then she shrugged.

Leo stared at her for a second. "Wait, you actually believe him?" Leo looked shocked. He obviously didn't expect that. "Sure. Why wouldn't I? You see how she is." Leo obviously still didn't get it. His eyebrows were knit together in concentration, and his lips were pushed together tightly.

"Then, why are you so angry with him?" Leo finally seemed able to form a coherent sentence. "I'm not angry with him. I just know that I can't handle getting hurt by him again." Leo looked at her. It didn't take a genius to understand that she was talking straight from her heart.

"Is it okay that I-" Leslie cut him off. "Yes. Of course you can start to talk to Jesse and be his friend again." Leo kept his gaze looked on her for a while, trying to analyze whether or not she actually meant it. After drawing the conclusion that she did, he nodded thankfully.

"You could possibly be forced to talk to him then, you know that, right?" Leslie nodded. She was aware of that. But she knew it was worth it. For Leo's sake, it was worth it.

* * *

><p><em><span>Later<span>_

_At the mall_

Jesse was truly suffering every second of it. Every single second used on watching Vicki looking at and buying clothes was torture. Jesse cringed every time she drew money from her credit card, and he shuddered every time she asked him if he thought she was fat. She was nowhere near fat, and she knew it. She just wanted him to say it.

After the sixteenth store, and the third hour, Jesse had gotten pretty tired of it. That's why, when Leo texted him and asked if he could come to the mall, Jesse told him where he was. Which is again is why Leo conveniently stumbled into them.

* * *

><p><em><span>A week later<span>_

_On the beach_

For once Leo had managed to drag Leslie down to the beach without her bringing her surfboard. Leo had told Jesse to come too, and told Leslie to prepare herself that Vicky probably would come too. Leslie had sighed, but had come with Leo nevertheless.

And, just as Leo had predicted, Jesse showed up, looking rather defended, with Vicky hanging on his arm. Jesse greeted them both with a smile, while Vicky on the other hand rolled her eyes at them.

"I don't understand why I have to do this." She hissed in Jesse's ear, just loudly enough for Leo and Leslie to hear. "You don't. The fact that _I _want to do this, doesn't mean you have to do it too." Jesse replied, his voice normally loud, demonstrating that he didn't talk behind Leo and Leslie's backs.

Vicky rolled her eyes again, this time at him. "Of course I have to come! I can't leave you _alone_ with her!" Leo then decided to interfere. He knew it probably wasn't a smart thing to do, but it would be very humorous. "Yeah, hi, I'm here too you know."

Leslie smiled in support to him at once, and Jesse desperately tried to hide a smile. Vicky looked like she absolutely hated him. "Fine. See you later, Jesse." With those words she stomped off.

"Can't say I'm disappointed that she left." Leo smiled. Leslie nodded in agreement, while Jesse surprisingly enough replied. "Me neither. She's driving me nuts." As the two in front of him laughed, Jesse eyed them both. He eyed Leslie for some more seconds than he probably should, but heck, he had _missed_ her.

A lot.

So nobody could blame him. Not really. After all, he had spent two whole, freaking years without her. This was the closest she had been standing to him for as long as he could remember.

Leo noticed this, but didn't say anything. How could he? Even if he had tried to deny it, he had seen just how badly Jesse had hurt because of this whole situation with Vicky. The way Jesse had been so pale the first weeks, the way he had been staring over at Leslie in every class they had together, the way his eyes had been so bloodshot.

Leo had noticed. He had wanted to help him, so very badly. But he couldn't. The reason he hadn't done anything for Jesse, was the reason he had done everything else; Leslie.

She may not have been hurting _more_, but it seemed like that to Leo, since he could see her suffering up close. No matter how obvious and visible her hurting had been though, Leo had never seen her cry.

Not once.

And it amazed him, merely because he saw how badly hurt she really was. Yet she acted like everything was fine. She always smiled and laughed when others was around. She pretended to be that happy girl everybody expected her to be.

Leo was surprised she was able to act as if nothing was wrong to everyone else. _He_ could see how her world was shattering every time she just _saw_ Jesse the first couple of months.

Leo wasn't quite sure if she really had stopped hurting, or had just gotten so good to hide it that not even Leo could tell whether or not she was fine. Leo didn't know, and he wasn't sure if he _wanted_ to know either.

In all honesty, he'd rather not know if she was hurting. It would have been best for everyone if she and Jesse just became friends again. They probably would have become friends, hadn't Vicky told Leslie that Jesse was talking crap about her behind her back.

Now, that was not the problem. She didn't have any proof, and Leslie didn't believe nor care about it. It just got complicated when Vicky started to tell Leslie how immature and childish and stupid Jesse thought Terabithia was.

Leo was pretty sure that it wasn't true, but Vicky knew where Terabithia was and what Jesse and Leslie had been doing there and stuff. It was clearly no way she could be guessing all the things she knew. And telling Vicky about Terabithia, that was the worst thing Jesse could possibly do to Leslie.

Jesse wasn't aware of what Vicky had told Leslie. If he had known tough, he would tell you that it was bullshit. That it wasn't true. After all, he had never said a word to anyone about Terabithia. Leslie and Jesse had told Dakota about Terabithia.

But they had done it together.

For one of them, alone, to tell someone else about Terabithia, that would be the same as betraying the other person.

Leo knew that Jesse was unaware of what Vicky knew. Leo didn't know how she figured it out, but she didn't hear it from Jesse, he was sure of it.

That's when Leo decided to tell Jesse exactly what had been going down.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: **__Chapter Five. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Bridge to Terabithia or any of it's characters or places._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Little House<strong>_

_**Chapter 4**_

_Some hours later_

When it started to get dark Leo, Leslie and Jesse finally decided to go home. They had spent the day swimming, eating ice-cream and talking. It had been nice, even though Leslie and Jesse barely spoke to _each other_. Jesse had tried, several times actually, but Leslie gave short answers, and didn't say any more than she needed to be polite.

Since Leslie didn't own a car, she rode home with Leo. Jesse had such a short distance, that he walked. Leo drove Leslie home, and hugged her goodnight outside her door. Leo spoke faster than normal and stuttered when she asked him if he was going home. He'd answered yes. She knew he was lying, Leo was sure of it. Yet, she didn't mention it. Leo was grateful, and decided to do something nice for her the next day, as a way of thanking her.

Once she stepped inside her door, he sped of in the way of his home. He drove straight past his house though, and continued until he was at the beach again, then drove in on a path.

And, just as he had expected, Jesse hadn't managed to get home yet. Leo drove slowly right beside Jesse, and opened the window facing Jesse, the one on the passenger side. "You need a ride?"

Jesse looked questioning as to why Leo had come back, but slipped into his car anyway. After some seconds of awkward silence, Jesse decided to question Leo's motives for his actions.

"So… How come you drove all the way back here?" Leo sighed. He knew it was coming, and he knew he had to tell Jesse what Vicky had said. He just didn't know where to begin.

Leo made eye-contact with Jesse. "Listen, it's a long story, and I have to tell you everything. Is there any chance that we can talk at your house?" Jesse looked slightly taken back by the request. It wasn't like Leo to be so serious.

It was a Tuesday, so his father would work the night shift. His mother was probably sleeping along with May Belle and Joyce Ann. Joyce Ann was now eight years old, while May Belle was twelve. She would be turning thirteen later this month actually.

"Sure," Leo nodded, and continued driving. His face was emotionless except the concentration driving a car required. Leo was usually not this way. He was like Leslie; he always saw the upside in things. Leo also looked uncomfortable, which got Jesse wondering. Leo was that kind of guy that would be uncomfortable around his friends (or anyone else for that matter) if he knew, for example, that this person's girlfriend had cheated on this person with his brother or best friend.

So now Jesse was nervous. But most of all, he was worried. "Is there anything wrong with Leslie?" Jesse couldn't stay silent anymore. He had to know. If Leslie was hurt, he had to know. He had to do something. He couldn't just sit here, in this car. He had to-

"No. There's nothing wrong with Leslie." Jesse sighed in relief once Leo's words sunk in. He waited for a minute for Leo to continue, to tell him what was going on, but he didn't. He didn't say anything.

Jesse was about to ask, but then they were there. Jesse particularly jumped out of the car. Leo's pace was a little slower. Jesse's house was painted in a creamy color, and had two floors. Every room seemed to have a small porch.

They walked in trough one of the porches on the first floor, and came straight into Jesse's room. He wasn't able to think rationally enough to ask Leo if he wanted anything, he was way too worried for that. Leo didn't seem to mind though.

Leo seated himself in the dark blue sofa, and Jesse sat down beside him after he closed and locked both the door to his porch and the door into the house. Jesse impatiently looked over at Leo. "Well, are you going to tell me?"

Leo sighed, and nodded. "You know the night you kissed Vicky?" Jesse nodded. He didn't want to think of it. Not now, not when things was starting to become okay between him and Leslie. "I don't see what that has to do with anything tough-"

Jesse raised his voice slightly, but before he could get really worked up, Leo cut him off. "That has _everything _to do with it, Jesse! Haven't you seen what's been going on at _all_?" Jesse cringed at Leo's harsh voice. As said, Leo was usually cheerful, and scolding at someone was not his apartment at all.

"Yeah, sorry. Go on," Jesse said, trying to make it up to him. Leo nodded. "Well… Vicky had been mean to Leslie already before that. She told Leslie that you and her had kissed, and that you that you thought Leslie was annoying and such," Jesse was about to protest, but Leo put up his hands.

"Don't say that it isn't true. Don't you defend your _girlfriend_!" Jesse looked at Leo with wide eyes. That type of comment was not like Leo. "Vicky also told Leslie and Dakota to stay away from you, but you already knew that," Jesse shook his head, but Leo interrupted him once again.

"You know what? You've been trying to get me, Leslie and Dakota to tell you what happened for years, so now when I'm telling you, I think you should shut up and believe me! Not to mention that Leslie would crucify me if she knew what I'm doing,"

Jesse fell silent. Leo was right, he had been prying to get them to spill the beans for years, yet he couldn't stop protesting when Leo finally told him. He nodded for Leo to continue.

"When Leslie saw you two kissing, she believed that everything Vicky had said had been true. Like how childish and annoying you think Leslie was and all that crap,"

Leo sighed and dragged his hands trough his hair. He still wasn't sure if telling Jesse was the right decision. He just hoped it was.

"But the worst part, the worst part is what Vicky told Leslie after that. It was much of the same as before, that you never cared for Leslie and all of that. Nothing unusual there,"

Jesse looked rather puzzled for a second, before catching on. "But, if that was 'nothing unusual', then why was it so bad?"

Leo sighed once more. He closed his eyes for a second, and then opened them again with a clearer head. That was a habit he had picked up from Leslie. She usually did that whenever they had an especially hard assignment in school.

"It wasn't. The fact that Vicky knew of Terabithia was," Jesse narrowed his eyes at Leo. "What? Vicky does_ not_ know anything about Terabithia! Where did you get that from? It's freaking insane!" Jesse glared at Leo.

Leo looked back at Jesse, but his eyes were sad. "I don't know how she got to know Jesse. I doubt that you told her, I always have. But she knew where Terabithia was, I mean _is_, Jesse, and she knew what you and Leslie had been doing there. How did she know that?"

Jesse stared at Leo blankly for quite some time. Then it clicked. All the pieces in the puzzle suddenly fitted. "My drawing…" Jesse whispered. "What?" Leo wasn't sure if he had heard Jesse right. Jesse turned to Leo, his voice filled with urgency.

"I drew Terabithia a lot before, I still do, but not as much, and I drew Leslie a lot too, Vicky was so jealous, but it wasn't my fault that Leslie was more photogenic-" Leo cut him off for the third time that evening.

"Jesse, the _point_, please?" Jesse cleared his throat, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Yeah, well, as I said, I drew Terabithia and the forest around it a lot before, which probably is why she knows where it is. And I drew me and Leslie doing stuff there too, which is how she knows what we did. But I never told her the name of it. And I never _showed_ her my drawing. She only got to see those I was drawing while she was there. And I never drew Terabithia in front of her. That means she went trough my stuff,"

Leo nodded. It made pretty sense. "I'll tell Leslie in the morning. But be careful. Check if she goes trough your messages on your phone and such too. You never know," Jesse nodded. Normally he would have protested, claimed that Vicky never would do that. But now he didn't see a point. She probably would do that. She probably _had_ done that. No more than ten minutes later Leo had gone home to sleep. They would sort everything else out in the morning. Right now, they both needed to sleep pretty badly.

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><p><strong><em>AN: _**_Please review. I'd love to hear what you think about this story, and how I'm doing. There is not really any point in writing this story if nobody likes it._


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